Wild West Road Trip - Day 9

Grand Tetons National Park, WY - 21st July

After a very nice long lazy breakfast, swim in the outdoor pool, and pampering ourselves with the Molton Brown miniatures (of which several accidentally found their way into my wash bag) we set off for our day in the Grand Tetons National Park.

Not long after leaving Jackson Hole, you are suddenly hit by the most fantastic view of the Grand Tetons, which stays with you for your journey to the National Park and almost all the way to Yellowstone Park.

The Magnificent Grand Tetons

We headed for Moose - yes there was a town called Moose, we visited the Visitors Center to get a map and see what there was to do. On their newspaper I saw a section on how to become a Junior Ranger of the Grand National Teton Park, and straightaway I thought Ruby would love to do this.

So we got the newspaper The Grand Adventure, which told us what Ruby needed to do and being age 7 and under, she had to complete two programs, one which must be a ranger program and the other was go on one hike or watch a park video.

And she had to complete pages 3 & 4 & the bingo in the newspaper.

As we were already at the Visitors Centre we choose to watch the park video, and as that finished a ranger was just beginning his talk on Bears and how to protect yourself if you ever come across one. It was very interesting.

The three things I learnt was whilst walking in bear country 1) is to make noise loud noise, bears are less likely to approach, 2) if a bear does approach you or charge at you stand still (What the!!!!! Stand still if a 400lb bear is charging at me, all I would want to do is run) but as a bear can out run you they advise to stand still. 3) Carry bear spray yes there is such a thing and if the bear charges deploy your bear spray in one second bursts - there you go

And as Ruby had attended this ranger program she got to complete two of the tasks to help her get the Junior Ranger badge.
 

We then drove around to Jenny Lake and we went for a walk to see Jenny Lake and have a paddle in it, then we went for a trail walk to find Jenny Lake Overlook, we didn't find it, we probably didn't go far enough, but we did have a lovely walk around the lake, and Ruby and I spent a good time looking for traces of animals that lived near the lake, we found animals tracks and poo, both of which Ruby was excited about, well it was for her Junior Ranger badge.

Tilly was our trail leader

After our walk, we headed further up the Teton Park Road, all the time the Grand Tetons just towered above us, we spotted an Elk in the undergrowth, and followed the road along Jackson Lake, it was beautiful scenery.

As we made our way back to Jackson Hole, Ruby was busy completing some of the fun activities, mainly the Ranger Bingo, for her badge, and we spotted this great road sign, I thought Australia had fab road signs and this one said it all.

We had a lovely drive back and as it had been a very hot, busy day, we got to have another hour in the pool, before going out for dinner, we went to this fabulous place called Rendezvous Bistro - best meal out of the holiday.


Yellowstone Park, Ruby becomes a Junior Ranger and another new state all to come next on our road trip

Wild West Road Trip - Day 8

Day 8 - Cody, WY - Jackson Hole, WY - 20th July

We started our day early as Mr C and the girls had their 1hr horse trail ride at 9am, and boy were the girls excited.

Picking out their horses

The Cowgirls and Mr C ready to roll

As we had two very excited girls, and we were early the girls got to watch the cowboys bring the horses in and debate over which horse they would each like to ride - if only it was that easy. We felt very lucky to have found these guys, as Mr C had rung around a few places prior to our trip and no-one would take kids under 7 on a trail ride, but by chance we found these guys the day before and they had informed us, that both girls could ride a full sized horse for the one hour trail ride as they would be attached to a guide. Perfect

Cowgirl Ruby and her horse Dunny

Cowboy Mr C ready to go

The Three Amigos 

And off they went, and why didn't I join them you may wonder, well I was designated photographer of course, ok that's not the truth, it's because I am not at all keen on horses, they scare me, so I choose to take the photo's then sit in the shade, in the peace and quiet and write postcards - it was bliss. I got chatting to a lovely gentleman too, he and his wife, had sold up and were cruising across America in their RV, and he still worked, the beauty of having a mobile phone and computer, that's the life. 

Ruby returning with Chase her guide

Tilly on Ambrose

Mr C said the trail was really good, they went down by and followed a river, and that the cowboys leading the trail, were informative and they had competed in the Rodeo the night before, the one we went too.

All I can saw is the girls had the best horse ride ever, Ruby even managed to tell me about the actual horse ride, where they went and what they saw.

After the ride, we headed back into Cody for a coffee and smoothie, before setting off for our next town Jackson Hole, which took us through the world famous Yellowstone Park - now I had enjoyed every part of the holiday so far but this was the part I was most looking forward too seeing Yellowstone Park.

Yellowstone Park was only 50 miles away from Cody and after a lovely drive to it, we entered through the East Entrance, to begin our Yellowstone adventure.

Yellowstone National Park is huge, it's 3,468 sq miles and spreads across 3 states of America, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, most of the park is in Wyoming and it comprises of lakes, canyons, rivers and mountain ranges. it is a place of extreme national beauty.

Lake Yellowstone

An Elk in the under growth 

beautiful views all around

On the drive into Yellowstone, you are all of a sudden hit by the beauty of it and the massive lake - Yellowstone Lake that is in the park - the lake itself is 7,732 feet (2,376 m) above sea level and covers 136 square miles (350 km²) with 110 miles (177 km) of shoreline. Yellowstone Lake is the largest freshwater lake above 7,000 feet (2,133 m) in North America.

Our first stop was to see an Elk in the undergrowth, you can always tell if there is something worth seeing in Yellowstone as all the cars stop by the side of the road and everyone is out with their cameras, us included.

Next we had lunch at a cute little diner in Lake Village, then we decided to go and see Old Faithful, which is a geyser, that erupts about every 92 minutes. it is not the largest, nor highest in Yellowstone but it is the most regular, with the boiling water shooting out to a height of 130m in just 15-20 second.

We were lucky that we only had to wait about 30 mins before the next eruption was due, so we went for an ice-cream and sat in the viewing area keenly waiting on the Old faithful to erupt and more or less on the time they predicted off it went and it just kept going.....

.....and going and going, Old Faithful went on for ages, it was great to see and you could feel the heat coming off that water too, they say the eruptions can shoot 14,000 to 32,000L of boiling water to a height of 106 to 185 feet (32 to 56 m) lasting from 1.5 to 5 minute. It was truly amazing to see.

From here as it was getting late in the day we started making our way to Jackson Hole, our stop for the next 2 nights. We drove out of the South entrance of Yellowstone Park and down through the Grand Tetons and Jackson Lake (more about those to come later), until we reached Jackson Hole, a beautiful town at the bottom of the Grand Tetons Mountain Range.

It was a very picturesque drive and reminded me somewhat of the South Island of New Zealand, along the way we were lucky to see wild bison/buffalo again.

We stayed at The Rustic Inn and it was lovely, and our treat as it was not cheap, but well worth it, we stayed in a log cabin, there was a creek, tee pee's, camp fires, the all important outdoor pool etc etc

The Rustic Inn and grounds

We decided to dine at the hotel restaurant that evening as it was getting late, we bought ourselves a S'mores kit from them for dessert, and heading up to the camp fire to make S'mores.

Toasting our marshmallows for the S'mores

Our S'mores kit contained skewers, marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers, and if you haven't heard of S'mores (like I hadn't until I came to America) you basically put a piece of chocolate on top on a graham cracker, toast your marshmallow in the fire, until it is soft and gooey and not too burnt, then you put the marshmallow on top of the chocolate, place another graham cracker on top and swish together and eat, yummy yummy.

We had fun making these in the camp fire, under the stars, it was a late night but worth it.

To come the beautiful Grand Tetons and Ruby studies to get her first Junior Ranger Badge.

Wild West Road Trip - Day 7

Day 7 - Cody, Wyoming - 19th July 

For the first time on our road trip we had a chilled out morning, Mr C was not feeling well, so after breakfast the girls and I spent the morning in the outdoor pool, we had about 2 hours of fun playing in the pool, all to ourselves. We practiced our swimming, played sharks, which involved me being the shark, played dolphin - where the girls climb onto my back, held onto my costume straps and I take them under water like a dolphin, they love it. We had so much fun and at last 4 years of swimming lessons paid off as I was able to chill out on the lounger for a bit whilst the girls played in the pool under my supervision.

Ruby checking out the horses for her horse ride the next day

As we had had the morning in the pool, we headed into Cody for lunch, then onto the Buffalo Bill Historical Centre, but prior to the museum as we were parking, we noticed some horses ready for rides and we went to inquire and found out, that they were happy to take the girls out on a one hour trail ride on full sized horses, oh my, the girls were super excited, so we booked it for the following morning and headed off to the museum, the museum was fascinating learning all about Buffalo Bill, it wasn't great for the girls but they managed, and the museum is well worth a visit.

For our evening we planned to go to a dinner, show and rodeo, so after the museum we had time to change at the hotel before heading to The Cody Cattle Company for our chuckwagon dinner and show, the dinner was an all you can eat dinner, consisting of chicken, beef brisket, potatoes, baked beans, apple sauce, corn bread, Caesar salad, coleslaw, brownies, lemonade, coffee and water.

Enjoying a chuckwagon dinner

Once we had had dinner it was time for the foot stomping, hand slappin live Western show to start, and what a great show it was, these musicians are the most talented musicians I have ever seen on stage, it was amazing, the music was fabulous and the banter very funny. 

Ryan Martin heads up the band along with the most talented Wilson Family . Not only are Andrew and Deanna very talented musicians, Andrew is a 2nd time Washington State Champion fiddler player, Deanna not only sings, but plays the guitar, mandolin, upright bass and piano, and their 14 year old son is part of the band too playing the upright bass, he has also won the title of Junior Picking Champion in Hood River, OR 2011 for his mandolin playing. Not only that but their other 3 kids are also into music, playing many instruments. An amazing family.

The show finished, as promised, in plenty of time for us to walk over to the Rodeo, for a night of cowboy fun. The Rodeo was great fun, they provided a great show of bull riding, lassoing cattle, cowgirls competing and kids as young as 6 competing in a special kids race - it was great family fun.

Rodeo fun

Tilly in the Rodeo Arena

Bull Riding Rodeo

They even got all the kids out into the rodeo area for a game of catch the calf to win a prize, the kids 5 & under got a head start, and all they had to do was grab the ribbon attached to the calf to see what they had won, although both Ruby and Tilly got to run around the rodeo arena neither caught the calves, it was hilarious watching the kids though.

We had a fantastic night out for our last night in Cody as after the horse riding the next day we would be on our way to Jackson Hole, via Yellowstone Park for our next adventure.

Wild West Road Trip - Day 5 & 6

Day 5 - Keystone, Rapid City and Deadwood - 17th July

We were up very early as we had a steam train ride to be on at 8.45am, I love steam trains so wherever we go, if there is a steam train to go on I'm there, so when I saw the 1800 Train advertised in Keystone, I made Mr C go and book it there and then.

Our round trip took 2 hours 15 mins through the scenic Black Hills of South Dakota, we wound our way through the lovely countryside and hills between Keystone and Hill City...and back again. As well as the beautiful countryside, we also saw lots of wildflowers and deers too. 

The Black Hills are a special place, many cultures over the centuries have come to value the region for not only its visible wonders, natural resources, but also for characteristics nearly spiritual in nature. Time has not changed this admiration for the Black Hills.

1800 Train arriving into Keystone 

All Aboard The Choo Choo Train

After our lovely train ride, we found a cowboy girl hat for Ruby to complete her cowboy girl outfit, for some reason Tilly didn't want one, no big deal, so we headed back into Rapid City to check out a Dinosaur Park for Tilly, so armed with our lunch we headed up, to be greeted by an amazing view over Rapid City and a cute free dinosaur park, consisting of only 4 rather huge Dinosaurs, the kids had fun looking at them and playing on them.

Tilly loves dinosaurs so she was pleased when we told her she could choose a little something from the shop there, and she picked a little packet of small dinosaurs in a carry case - it didn't take her long to start playing with these in the car, whilst we then made our way to Deadwood for the afternoon.

Mr C wanted to visit Deadwood, as he's been really getting into the history around the Wild West etc plus he's been watching the TV series here called Deadwood. We had a lovely walk around the town, and saw where Wild Bill Hickok was shot and killed, it was interesting, the town is saturated in history and looks a lot different now to when it did back then at the height of it's popularity, now it is full of saloons and casinos with the odd gift shop and ice cream parlour - it was an afternoon well spent.

Deadwood High Street

All in all we'd had another great day out followed by a swim in the pool and a pizza dinner.

Day 6 - Rapid City, SD - Cody, Wyoming - 18th July

We had a long drive ahead of us today, about 382 miles in total, so after breakfast we hit the road, and it wasn't long before we left South Dakota behind and we were in Wyoming on our way to Cody our next stop for 2 nights.

As we entered Wyoming we stopped at their Tourist Information/Rest Area and it was the best Visitors Centre we had been in throughout our whole trip, it was utterly wonderful and interactive too, so we picked up lots of brochures for Cody and Yellowstone Park and then found out we could take a scenic route to Cody via Devils Tower so we did.

Entering Wyoming our 3rd State

The Spectacular Devils Tower

It didn't take long to get to Devils Tower and it was well worth the detour and going off the beaten track to see it - that's the great thing about road trips, you can detour off as and when you like. We stopped for lunch in Gillette - (the best a man can get ha ha) nothing fancy, just a stop at a supermarket for homemade sandwiches, back on the road our next stop was this lovely little town called Buffalo it was so quaint, we made this our ice cream stop and we had the most delicious ice cream there.

The next bit of our journey to Cody was absolutely beautiful, it was stunning the vastness of the Bighorn National Park was out of this world, no photo would have done it justice, but I wish I had taken more photos, not one really showed the beauty or vastness of the place, but it will be forever implanted in my mind.

It was such a lovely drive and it was wasn't long before we got to Cody where our hotel was just lovely. Cody is a lovely Cowboy town, we ate out at a full on steakhouse, I had a great fillet (the smallest steak on the menu at 10oz which was still too big and Mr C had the buffalo steak, 16 ozs of pure buffalo, I had a taste and it was lovely, I would have loved a buffalo steak too but there was no way I could eat that much meat. it was a great meal in Cowboy town.

Horse Rides, Chuckwagon dinner & show and a Wild West Rodeo to come.